Description of Historic Place

The Immaculate Conception Church Cemetery consists of a rectangular cemetery property located on School Street in the Village of Rexton. Orderly rows of grave markers dot the landscape of flat ground and mature cultivated cedars.

Heritage Value

Immaculate Conception Church Cemetery is designated a Local Historic Place for its association with the many Acadians and Irish Catholics that settled in the area.

The importance of the Immaculate Conception Church Cemetery as the burial grounds for these early residents and their descendants greatly influenced the culture of Rexton. With the first burial dating 1847, the grave yard was established a few years before the construction of the first Catholic Church in the village. Large families, a special part of the Catholic culture, is evident in the cemetery with three family names, Hebert, Robichaud, and Richard, constituting over 100 of the approximately 750 grave sites. O’Leary, O’Brien, McDermott, Lanigan and many more Irish names are very evident also. The grave markers are not elaborate in the older section of the cemetery verifying that many of the Acadians and Irish Catholic arrived to the area with little wealth.

Source: Village of Rexton Local Historic Places File #2006-1

Character-Defining Elements

The character defining elements that describe Immaculate Conception Church Cemetery include:
- earliest grave marker dated October 3, 1847 of Jane, a three year old daughter of Alex and Margaret Minnard;
- non-elaborate markers of cast iron, wood, white stone, and different coloured granite;
- markers, many featuring the symbol of the cross, in the older section of cemetery face east, remainder face south.